


from the shards of her heart

by glitterprince



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Apologies, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Best Friends, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Childhood Friends, Cute, Ducks, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Making Up, POV Third Person, Past Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterprince/pseuds/glitterprince
Summary: Real world, present day AUAdora used to be best friends with Catra, but she always wanted to be more. On the day she realized she was in love with Catra, they got into a huge fight and Adora couldn’t talk to her for years afterwards because it hurt too much.Then, one day, Adora goes on a picnic with Glimmer and Bow as an escape from all her problems. But Catra just happens to be there, and the Best Friend Squad convinces Adora to finally talk to her. It's angsty but then has a happy ending :)
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 69





	from the shards of her heart

“Do you guys ever wonder if there’s other worlds out there?”

Glimmer smiled. “Of course there are, Bow. But if you mean other worlds with  _ people _ on them, that’s impossible. Silly.”

She turned toward him and playfully shoved his shoulder. “Ow!” he exclaimed, but Glimmer just smiled wider.

Adora frowned. How were they supposed to know for sure that there  _ wasn’t _ anyone else out there? How were they supposed to know that there weren’t aliens out in space plotting to kill them at this very moment?

When Adora had invited her best friends on this picnic with her, she had hoped for a break from her constant stress. She couldn’t stop worrying about  _ everything _ , from her grades at school to her SAT scores to whether she would ever find parents who wanted to adopt her so she could finally be free of the foster system. And now she was worrying about aliens, too. She groaned, covering her face with her hands.

“What’s wrong?” asked Bow, instantly concerned. Adora shook her head, but Bow would still know something was up. He was too good at reading others’ emotions. Sometimes it seemed like a superpower.

So she sighed and said, “This isn’t helping.”

She didn’t have to elaborate. She had already talked to Bow and Glimmer about her anxiety, and they knew her well enough to have an idea of what she meant when she said vague statements about things “not helping.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about aliens, then,” said Glimmer, throwing Bow a sharp look. “Why don’t we go for a walk around the park?”

“Ugh, but I’m so tired,” Bow complained.

“Then suck it,” said Glimmer, and grabbed Bow’s hands to pull him up.

“No, no, I’m okay!” he said quickly and stood up by himself. Adora joined him, but she had a feeling this wouldn’t help either. Nothing really did.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” said Bow, placing a hand on her shoulder. She nodded briefly and started walking.

“Just try to distract yourself,” said Glimmer brightly. “Hey, want to go feed the ducks?”

She pointed toward the pond at the far corner of the park, where a few ducks were swimming and quacking at the people nearest to them, trying to earn a crumb of bread. Adora looked at them miserably. So dependent on others when they could simply feed themselves.

Adora didn’t have that luxury. She could only depend on herself.

Then, she noticed the group of people who were feeding the ducks and stopped in her tracks.

It was Catra. And also Lonnie, Kyle, Scorpia, and Rogelio, yes, but mostly Catra. It had always been obvious that Catra was the one in charge.

“No, no, we can’t go over there,” said Adora. She tried to turn away, but Glimmer grabbed her wrist.

“Because of Catra?” she asked, her voice softening. “Adora, you have to let that go. It’s been years. Don’t you think it’s time to talk to her?”

“I don’t want to,” she insisted. “She really hurt me. I know she tried to apologize, and I said some terrible things too, so it’s not only on her, but-”

Her voice broke. Ever since that day, looking at Catra had physically hurt her. A pang in her chest, like a shard of her heart that was made of glass, out of place. Piercing her.

It was the summer before the start of high school. Adora and Catra had been best friends for as long as Adora could remember, but this summer, it felt like something had changed. She had always felt more for Catra, more than just a friend should. But she hadn’t realized it until then.

It was a scorching day, and they had gone to get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Adora got vanilla, Catra mint chocolate chip. But Catra got bored of her cone halfway through and leaned over to take a lick of Adora’s. They were walking at the time, so Catra missed and smeared ice cream all over her nose and her cheeks. She laughed, and Adora smiled, gazing at how beautiful she was like this. She was happy, really happy. Not just smiling for a picture. And her laugh was so cute, and Adora couldn’t help thinking,  _ God, I want to kiss her. _

And that was where it all went wrong. Because Adora was so happy, drugged by the summer day and the taste of love, she didn’t think before she moved. She took Catra’s chin in her hand and tipped it upwards, bringing her own face closer to Catra’s. She swore she had seen a glint of something in Catra’s eyes before she pulled away, but maybe it was just surprise. Adora had always looked too much into simple things and seen what wasn’t really there.

“Sorry,” Adora had said quickly, hoping to salvage the moment. But Catra’s smile was far gone, completely wiped from her face. She wouldn’t make eye contact with Adora. She stared at the sidewalk, her melting ice cream forgotten.

“I’m sorry, really,” Adora repeated, trying to get Catra to talk to her. “I won’t do it again.”

Catra finally looked up at her, tears in her eyes. “You really regret it that much?”

“No, I-” Adora started, but Catra didn’t let her finish.

“I knew it. All this time, I’ve only been an afterthought. You’ve never put me first. I’m just not good enough.”

“What? No, that’s the opposite of true! I’ve always put you first-”

“No, you haven’t, because if you really cared about me, you’d take better care of yourself!”

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other. “What?” Adora finally said.

“I said, you have a hero complex.”

“How is that related to what just happened?”

“Because you obviously only did it to make me feel better.”

Adora threw her hands up. “God, that’s so fucking stupid. How hard is it to believe that anyone actually cares about you, Catra?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Yes, it is. This is why no one likes you. Because you find problems where there are none, just to push people away.”

Catra just stared at her, and that was when Adora realized she had fucked up. She reached out a hand and said, “Wait, I didn’t mean that-” but Catra swatted her hand away.

“Yes you did,” she said, her voice cold. “And no one likes you either. Because you take care of others at the expense of yourself. So much that it hurts anyone who ever tries to get close to you.”

With that, Catra turned to walk away, and Adora didn’t stop her.

That was her worst mistake. Because if she had stopped her, tried to say anything more, she could have apologized. She could have convinced Catra that what she said was wrong.

But deep down, she knew it wasn’t. She and Catra were both right. So maybe they were both different kinds of fucked up, and that was why they worked together.

Except that they didn’t. They only pushed each other away.

So Adora let her walk away.

Now, she stared at the ducks in the pond and tried not to look at Catra. Catra had tried to talk to her since then, casually started conversations in classes or winked at her from across the hallway. But it hurt too much to talk to her, so Adora just ignored her.

Maybe Glimmer was right. Maybe it was time to give Catra a second chance.

While Adora had been caught in her memories, Glimmer and Bow had led her over to the pond. Catra and her skater friends stood on the bridge over the pond, not too far away, and Adora tried not to look at them, but she couldn’t help it. Catra was leaning against the railing, wearing a red button-up over a white tank top, unbuttoned and short-sleeved. The tank top was tucked into a pair of tight black jeans, and her short hair was wet, a strand falling into her face.

_ She must have just showered _ , Adora thought, then immediately abandoned that train of thought before she could dwell on it. Catra caught her staring and winked.

Adora looked away, but Glimmer sent her a glare, and Adora was defeated. She knew she had to do this, if not for her own sake, then at least so her friends would leave her alone.

“Hey, Adora,” said Catra as Adora approached her. Her voice was taunting, like it always was. At least when she wasn’t mad.

“Catra,” replied Adora, her voice tense. Scorpia was looking at Catra, concerned, until Catra let her go with a nod.

And then they were alone. Adora swallowed. They hadn’t been alone together since that summer day.

“Nice weather we have today?” Adora started. She winced as soon as the words left her mouth, but Catra just smirked.

“Smooth as always,” she said, flicking a piece of bread crust off the railing and into the pond. The ducks instantly flocked to it, but there wasn’t enough for them all to share. “And no, this weather is terrible.”

Adora laughed nervously. “Yeah, I know. I was being sarcastic.”

Catra glanced over at her, eyes widening. “I didn’t know you knew what sarcasm was. Looks like you’ve learned something since we last talked.”

“Yeah, my friend taught me. Mermista, her name is Mermista. Do you know her? I think she was in one of your classes one time. Like maybe your marine biology class? Did you even take that? Obviously I don’t know because why would I know what classes you have, we haven’t talked in years, I definitely don’t talk to my friends about you-” Adora cut herself off. She was just babbling now, and Catra was smiling up at her like she thought it was cute. “Stop that,” she said.

“No,” Catra replied, tilting her head to one side, that infuriating smile still on her face. Seriously, she was starting to get on Adora’s nerves.

“Why are you like this?” she said, frustrated. “Why are you allowed to talk to me like that when you hurt me so much?”

Catra’s eyes narrowed. “You hurt me too, you know. And I was only telling the truth.”

“Well, so was I!” Adora exclaimed, then took a deep breath so she could say what she came there to say. “I’m sorry. I know I hurt you too, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that to you, even though the part about you pushing people away was true. What you said to me was true, too, even though it hurt.”

Catra hesitated. “It wasn’t all true,” she said softly.

Adora stiffened. She was starting to notice something like hope rising from the shards of her heart, and she couldn’t have that. She pushed it down, forcing herself to believe nothing would happen. So if it didn’t, she wouldn’t be as crushed.

“What wasn’t true?” she asked, just loud enough that Catra could hear.

“That no one likes you,” said Catra. “Because--because I do.”

Adora couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. She was sure she looked silly, but for once she didn’t care.

“Like, in a gay way?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Catra shuffled her feet, and Adora realized that the only other time she had seen her like this was right after Adora tried to kiss her.

“Then why did you pull away?”

Catra sighed. “I was confused, and scared, and I thought you didn’t really mean it. Or that you weren’t thinking, because why would you want to kiss me when all I’ve ever done is hurt you?”

Adora took Catra’s face in her hands. “Hey,” she said. “I’ve hurt you too. We’ve both made mistakes.”

“We both have problems,” said Catra, her gaze piercing. Adora didn’t look away.

“Right. But we can work through this together. And I still want to kiss you, by the way.”

Catra bit her lip. “Then do it.”

Adora leaned down and met Catra’s lips with her own. One hand was on the railing behind Catra, the other still on her cheek. Catra ran her hands through Adora’s hair, pulling it loose from its ponytail. They kissed on the bridge, with the ducks watching from the pond, and they didn’t care if anyone else saw.


End file.
